Ma Fille: Hannibals Daughter
by ArchAngelCayta
Summary: Hannibal's daughter Caretta moves back home to live with her father. Soon Hannibal finds out that his daughter is more like him than he ever hoped. The question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing. No Pairings this time...Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

Ma Fille

Hannibal's daughter Caretta moves back home to live with her father. Soon Hannibal finds out that his daughter is more like him than he ever hoped. The question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing.

Prologue

_Richard Martin stood at the counter, running his hands over the warm water, washing the blood off of his knuckles. The skin on his back was still hot from the recent punishment that he had given. Everyone was told to never make him angry; he just recently showed her the reason why you should never make him angry. "I was hoping that the last time would have taught you a lesson. I don't like to do that to you."_

_Her footsteps were light against the floor, her legs were bruised, and all the way up to her thigh, a grey sweater covered her shoulders, arms, stomach and back. "I should have known better. It won't happen again." She whispered slightly._

"_Good." He said, keeping his eyes in the sink. He didn't see her come up behind him. She held her arm behind her back. "Make sure that it doesn't, I really hate putting you back into your place."_

_Her eyes glinted "You won't have to again. It won't happen again."_

_He didn't have time to move away from her when she sliced his throat. His blood spurt into the sink and all over the counter, dying the crisp white counters red. He looked at her, eyes wide, looking into her eyes to see one thing…hate. He grabbed his neck to stop the bleeding with no avail. She followed him as he fell to the ground and tried to scramble away from her. She still carried the pair of scissors in her hand; her eyes were dark holes of nothing. She caught hold of him and straddled his stomach "You won't ever have to worry about me again…" Then she raised her scissors up into the air…._

I climbed out of the cab and paid the driver, the train of red from my dress soon followed behind me, "Thanks for the ride, sorry that it was so far away."

"It's alright honey; as long as I get paid then I don't have a problem." The cab driver stated with a smile.

I managed to give him a slight smirk "understandable." I said before giving him the money "Have a safe night; there are some unstable people out this late at night."

He nodded and drove off into the distance. I turned and looked in front of me at the house where I had been dropped off; it hadn't changed a bit since I had last seen it. "Please dear God I hope he doesn't turn me away." I thought to myself as I pushed myrself up the stairs to the door and knocked slightly 'if I remember correctly then it should be just about dinner time.'

I looked around at my surroundings, the cold air caused me to shiver slightly, while the dress I was wearing was a beautiful dress, warm was not a word to describe it, on the contrary it was one of the coldest pieces of clothing. 'I definitely don't want to be out in this weather in this dress.' I thought once more.

Finally the door opened and I turned around, trying to smile but finding it difficult with the chattering of my teeth and the fear in my heart. He hadn't changed a bit. His eyes looked over the me in surprise, he wasn't expecting me of course it was a complete surprise, whether he would find it rude or not I wasn't sure, but the look on his face was a little bit more than I expected. "Caretta?"

I, still trying to hold the slight smile looked into his eyes "Hello father."

Hannibal Lector, psychologist extraordinaire, handsome, talented, intelligent…this man was my father; and I, Caretta Lector, was his child, his legacy, and whether I was living up to his expectations was yet to be seen. He dried his hands on a hand towel. Usually he was dressed in a three-piece suit but now, he was dressed in a black shirt and a white apron. "What a surprise, to what do I owe this visit?"

'Well…I happened to be in the neighborhood and I thought that I would stop by and see you. I hope that you don't have company."

"No, Not tonight…"

I waited for the awkward silence for a moment "Can I come in?"

Hannibal, as if taken out of some sort of trance looked back into my eyes "Yes…yes of course, come in you will catch your death out here."

I smiled once more and stepped into the house, "Are you hungry?" He asked helping me out of the coat that I wore and giving me a light kiss on the cheek. I moved my hair back to where it was, across my back, causing him to become suspicious of my intentions. I saw that clearly, he was going to watch me more intently for more of these actions.

"What a silly question coming from you father. Especially when it comes to your cooking."

He smiled slightly "You look beautiful. What was the occasion of such a dress?"

"Thank you. My friend was getting married this evening."

"Well I was just in the middle of cooking, come into the kitchen and we can talk there. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Whatever you are drinking will be fine."

I knew that my father had a taste of wine. Of course I had been taught that excellent taste. I knew elegance at an early age because of my father and I must say, I was proud that I had it. He handed me a glass of wine then went back to his work. "How has the practice been?" I asked taking a sip.

"Wonderful, as a matter of-fact I have been booked solid with clients for the past couple of weeks."

"That is wonderful!" I said happily

He smiled gently "And you?"

"That is one of the things I wanted to talk to you about…among other things."

He looked at me but didn't stop cutting at the potato that was in his hand, he was analyzing my face to see what I was up to, I saw that from a mile away. Knowing that I couldn't hide anything from him, I continued "I am about to take a job as a professor here at the local college…"

"I always knew that you would be a teacher, from the day you were born you always wanted to teach me things." Hannibal said "Of course you will try to keep in touch a little more."

I looked at my glass sheepishly "Actually father, I was hoping that you would allow me to come home for a while."

The knife stopped once again and he looked at me, I moved her hair out of my face and smiled "It isn't working with my current roommate; he doesn't like my job…"

When I looked back up at him I knew that my father saw something else in my eyes.. he looked back down and began cutting and said "There are some clothes upstairs in your room, why don't you get out of that wet dress while I get dinner ready."

He didn't answer her question, which caused me to worry that he was going to say no. CI did the thing that I could do, nod slightly and stepped off of the stool, taking my glass of wine with me. "Alright." My hope dropped the minute he said that.

I trailed my way up the stairs, holding onto the banister with a slight smile on my face. I remembered the days that I would pretend to be a princess in a castle, right in this house, right on this staircase. My father would call for me in his study and I was allowed to read the books after, of course, I did her work. It was here that he also taught me how to play the piano. I took ballet here, I learned German here, I became me in this house. At the top of the steps there were two hallways, to the left was my father's room, to the right was mine. I stepped into my old bedroom and smiled. The bed was a queen, the room itself was black and white walls, the chest was black wood and the bookshelves were all white. I was an avid reader, just like my father. I opened the drawers to see a grey off the shoulder sweater. I touched it and started to shake slightly, the feeling of the fabric and the smell of my past motion caused me to shiver. I, satisfied with my choice in clothes, threw it on the bed and found a pair of blue jeans; the sizes were all different because I had lost quite a bit of weight. I was always comfortable with wearing a bigger sweater though; the pants would be a problem. I only hoped that I could find a belt. I couldn't help but sigh when I was pulling the pants up under the dress and over my legs, there was no way that these jeans were going to stay on my hips. I stripped the dress off over my head setting the dress on the bed, It was going to have to do.

I, not wanting to keep my father waiting, threw on the grey sweater and my jeans and found a pair of black ballet flats. I quickly ran into the bathroom and found some gauze to cover up the cut and bolted down the stairs. Hannibal was waiting for me at the bottom with a slight smile on his face happy that I had finally returned. "It seems that you have lost some weight since the last time I saw you." He said analyzing the fact that my jeans were baggy."

I tried to hide my frustration and smiled "Yeah I was just noticing that myself."

"Well no matter, I am sure that you have clothes that will be moving with you."

"of…of course."

He walked with me to the dining room and we sat down together for the meal. "It looks wonderful."

"Did you change your perfume Caretta ?" I heard him inhale slightly and my head shot up from my plate, I had forgot my father's impeccable sense of smell and I was mentally cursing, I had thought about lying however, my father knew when I was lying too… I took a bite from my plate "No…No I don't think I have. Why do you ask?"

"Something about you smells different." He was trying to work out what the smell was, I could see that in his eyes, and that caused me to panic slightly. I could only imagin that he was thinking _She looks like a scared rabbit that knows her time has come. Something is wrong, this isn't Caretta …This isn't my daughter. _

I looked back down at her plate and began to eat my dinner. "You said that you will be teaching as a professor, what will you be teaching?" He asked trying to make me settle down and relax

"The history of murder."

"How very interesting, a very interesting part of history."

I nodded, "Very important as well. It shows the history of predator and prey, the Cain and Abel." I said. My father's words to be exact "I think it was you that had said that what separates someone from being predator and prey is primal and tame, that is going to be one of the main topics of my history lesson."

My Dad looked at me and smiled "So I did. Very good Caretta ."

"I had a good teacher." I said taking a bite of my food again "You made veal. And if I am not mistaken you are trying a new sauce, is it… a beef tenderloin with veal tail, it was cooked in merlot wine?"

"It would seem that you have more of my taste than I realized."

I laughed but then caught my rself when the pain hit me in the side, something had pulled and I felt a spurt come out of my back. I grabbed at it and winced. Unfortunatly My father noticed immediately before I could recover "Stand up." He said, his voice was stern. It caused me to straighten up "What?"

"I said stand up."

I had been caught, and I knew it, I sighed and stood up and tried to stand up straight. He stood up and started to walk toward me, his footsteps hard against the floor. "Turn around."

I didn't make any movement, instead I held fast. Dad knew that I was stubborn, that was the only thing about my mother that I had gotten. He took hold of my wrist and whipped me around so that my back was facing him. I fought slightly until he touched the spot on My back by accident and the pain shot up my back and into my shoulders causing me to got stiff, crying out slightly at the pain in my back. My Father, wanting to get to the problem, reached for her shirt and lifted it up to her middle back and saw the sight. Black and Blue bruises covered her back some healing, some of them were brand new, but that wasn't the worst part, on her lower back, reaching from the top of her left him and reaching up almost to the middle of my spine, was a large knife slice, it was red, and from what I am sure my father could smell, it was getting infected. He let the material of my sweater fall back over my back but he wasn't done examining me I was sure, instead he moved my hair out of the way to see the bruises went up to the back of my neck. They didn't end there, instead they went down my legs, my buttocks, my chest, stomach and everything else was bruised. Any place that was easy to hide was bruised. He turned m e back around to see that tears had suddenly formed in my eyes. I rose up her sweater in the front to show that the bruises were on my stomach as well, he wanted to see it all, I was going to make sure he saw it all. I looked back into her father's eyes "I couldn't take it anymore, Dad. …He, he wouldn't stop."

My father wrapped his arms around her and kissed my head, running his hands over my hair, I was sure that he could feel that my heart was beating so hard that he could almost hear it. "I am so sorry that I let him do this to you."


	2. Chapter 2

Ma Fille Chapter 2: Comparisons

Hannibal was watching over her sleeping form, it had taken him a couple hours to get the wound cleaned out, and then it took another hour for him to administer drugs to her and sew up the wound. It was a lot of pain on her part to get it cleaned out, and a lot of tears that he wished that he didn't have to see. However, given the circumstance that it was going to become worse if he didn't take care of it, he chose to take care of it. He was going to have to keep an eye on it for a couple of weeks, but she was going to be fine.

She was now laying in the bed that he had bought for her when she was sixteen, she laid on her side, away from him. In the red chemise shirt she was wearing he could see the bruises on her back. To Hannibal, she would always be his little girl, that being said, knowing that a man that she had given her heart to had beat her. He didn't show it, but he was furious.

She asked him before she went to sleep if she could have some of her favorite tea, it was a black tea known as the Prince of Wales tea. While he was currently out, he would go out and get it this evening and retrieve some for her before she woke up. He would also make another stop on the way home. Taking one last look at her he leaned down and kissed her head and whispered "I will be back soon, I promise."

She moved slightly but made no real intentions of waking up. Hannibal could only smile. He had the perfect idea for breakfast for her when she woke up. He walked slowly down the stairs into the kitchen where he kept his recipes, and picked out the one he had been looking for. Then he noticed Carretta 's purse on the hook. He didn't like sneaking into her things, especially since it was his daughter. However under the circumstance, he would make an exception. He reached in and grabbed her wallet and removed her driver's license before he climbed in his car and drove out of the lot. He looked at the address on the driver's license. "I think I will go and pay this man a visit."

He stopped at the nearest 24 hour store and grabbed Carretta 's favorite tea and some spices that he needed. He also picked her up a new cobalt blue mug, one that she always loved to drink from.

He set everything in the back seat so that the mug wouldn't get broken then set out on his journey. He double checked the address before leaving the parking lot. It wouldn't take him long to get there as a matter of fact, that was the easy part. It was getting back. After all, he was going to Washington D.C.

He had an hour to plan. Hannibal was one that liked to plan out his meals; every-so-often he would have one that was unplanned, which was not surprising. This time he had about an hour to plan, so he threw a couple of ideas through his head before deciding on an exact.

He finally found the address and parked outside, looking for any signs of movement, or any sign of human activity. If there was he was sleeping, wonderful, the element surprise actually tasted excellent in his meals. He climbed out of his car and walked up the steps to the front door. He took a deep breath before ringing the door bell, he was managing rather well when it came to keeping calm, however the thoughts of this man beating his daughter to a pulp was about to push Hannibal over the edge. He rang the doorbell again to receive no answer. His brows furrowed 'surely he was home; it was almost three in the morning.' He thought. He tried the door knob to find it unlocked, the confusion was moving more into his gut 'something isn't right.' He pushed the door open and closed it to stop any curiosity or worry to any neighbors. Immediately he was hit with a scent that he knew all too well, it was strong and it mixed in with a smell that he hated. He made his way down the hallway and the scent got stronger, he moved slowly and quietly, just in case there was someone else in the house, but judging by the smell, there wasn't anyone else. He rounded the corner into the small kitchen area and he saw the sight that almost shocked him. Hannibal looked over the decaying body of a dead man, the age of twenty five, he was young, when he was alive he was good looking. In death however he was gruesome. His head was sliced so deeply that it was almost cut clean off of his head, his eyes were wide open in fear his curly black hair was matted to his head with the blood that was pooled around his head, he was shirtless, but his chest was destroyed by slices and stab wounds. His groin took the most damage, almost severed beyond the belief.

As Hannibal looked over the scene in front of him, the image seemed to reanimate itself in his head, this crime was recent, and the smell told him so. The person that stabbed this man, so violently, wanted to make sure he never got back up again, and if he did manage it, he would be castrated, he was well hated, not only that but the person who did this managed to stay in the same house for a couple hours before leaving the body to be found by someone else. He turned around for a moment to look around the room for any evidence of who he was. He found the evidence that he was looking for when he saw a picture of the dead man and Carretta , they were smiling. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place. His daughter was more like him than what he could possibly imagine.

He took hold of the picture and looked at his daughter "Carretta , my Dearest Daughter…I have so much that I have to teach you."

He wasn't going to confront her about it. Not yet, instead, he was going to take care of this problem. The meal that he planned was going to be good. Then Carretta would take care of everything else. She was going to wonder what happened to the body, he was going to answer for that later.

Hannibal returned later than expected. Tired, almost to the point of near exhaustion however he couldn't go right to sleep. The thought of his daughter, his own child, flesh and blood, had managed such a brutal murder. The thought caused him to shiver slightly, some with delight, some with a twinge of fear. The last bit of innocence that he thought that she had was now gone, as a psychologist, Hannibal would not have gone so far as to compare her mind to his, the mentality of a psychopath didn't pass down to offspring, that was what he was taught after all. However she was starting to show all of the signs of being a complete psychopath…

She had no control; she had rage, the damage that the late boyfriend she killed showed it. While it was completely justified, she couldn't kill this way and not get caught. He placed the meat in the freezer neatly and unpacked the tea and spices before walking into his sitting room and sitting on one of his couches, staring at the fire place, watching the embers burn. He couldn't tell her yet. Instead, he wanted to get into her brain and see what she was capable of. While this was a good way to break a trust between the two of them…He was curios.

Suddenly the light of the sun began to rise and he sighed, he hadn't gotten any sleep since through the night and he had a full day ahead of him. "Good Morning Carretta." He smelled her perfume the minute that she entered the room, even as quiet as she was, no wonder she got the jump on the man. He turned and looked at her, her hair was freshly wet from a shower, she wore a white t-shirt that was three sizes too big and a pair of shorts. Carretta, not surprised by her father knowing she was there smiled "good morning."

"I was about to make breakfast, your favorite dish, eggs and a fresh steak."

"That sounds wonderful; this must be a special occasion." She said

"It is a special occasion…it is the return of my daughter." He said walking up and stopping right next to her to plant a kiss on her forehead before walking into the kitchen. She followed behind him and took a seat at the island so that she could watch, he also began heating up some tea for her "I hope you don't mind, I didn't sleep very well last night."

"You didn't sleep at all." She stated "I can tell, you are wearing the same clothes you were wearing last night. You also have dark circles under your eyes."

He couldn't help but smirk "Well aren't you the observant one."

She smiled "Again, I had a good teacher."

"I never taught you that, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle taught you that." He said taking out that pans and some knives

"A book that you made me read." She rebuked with a slight smile on her face, He handed her the teapot with a smile of his own. He reached over to the freezer and pulled out the meat for the morning "I want to ask you a couple of questions, and they are serious questions."

"Going to be my psychologist, father?"

He looked up at her "Father first, it is illegal to be a psychologist to family."

Caretta looked down and sighed "Alright, go ahead."

He saw that she was uncomfortable. "How long has he been hurting you?"

Caretta took a long sip of her tea "About three months ago. I still remember the first time he did it, it was a quick slap to the side of my face. Since then…It got worse until…well until I came home." She looked up at him and tried to smile "Is it normal to feel completely lost?"

"To some…but not to you." He reached over and took her hand looking into her eyes, the eyes that were almost identical to his. "I am here for you, we are in this together, and I am not going to let anyone hurt you."

She looked at him and nodded slightly "I am going to need it."

He went back to his project for the morning "What are you going to do today."

"Well I thought I would go back to the house and get my clothes and some of my notebooks, I don't need much."

The thought went through his head that she would find the body gone, she was going to have to deal with that kind of panic. To Hannibal, this was the best way to teach her to not leave her pray out for someone else to find."Are you worried about him returning home?"

Caretta shook her head "No, he works really hard, he wouldnt return home until tonight I am sure."

She was a good liar, too bad he already knew the truth "Maybe I should go with you, I dont have any appointments until ten..."

He looked at her as a wave of panic went through her "No!" She burst out suddenly causing Hannibal to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "I mean...No, thank you father, I don't want to start any more trouble than what there already has been...I just want t get in there and get out, never to look back."

Hannibal smiled trying to settle her nerves "Alright. If you are sure. But remember that if you want me to go with you."

"Possibly later, when I feel more comfortable, and I know for sure that there isnt going to be any trouble."

Hannibal knew exactly what she was thinking, she was going to dispose of the body then bring him to get her things, however she was in for a big surprise. He looked at his finished product and handed it to her. "Father, I must say, you do some of the best work, I dont know why you are a psychologist when you could have easily been a culinary expert."

"Then it wouldn't be a passion it would be work."

"Work that you would love to do." Caretta replied taking a bite of her food and smiling "This is probably the best steak I have ever had. It is a big improvement from eating cereal I must say."

"I am glad that you like it, its funny, I was out retrieving your tea this morning and found it."


	3. Chapter 3

Ma Fille: Chapter 3

I finally came down the stairs of my father's home, dressed in one of my old shirts that was three sizes too big and a pair of tights I had managed to find. I didn't look like the standards that my father had originally planned for me, but it would have to do until later. My father was just about to leave as well when I came down the stairs "Going to the office dad?" I asked

"Yes, I just remembered I had some work that I had to do before my first appointment, not having a secretary has really caused a lot of stress."

I gave him a look of pity, "Why don't I come by when I get back and help take care of some of the stuff that your secretary would have done, that will keep you from getting piled up with work."

He smiled and kissed my head "That would be wonderful. I will accept the offer."

I smiled in return and kissed his cheek "Then I will come by the office when I am done at the apartment."

"Then we will also have lunch together as well."

I nodded in agreement as I grabbed a taxi. I was looking forward to bringing my car with me, I hated taxis.

When the taxi brought me a couple of blocks away from the apartment, I paid him and thanked him and waited for him to drive away. I threw my hair up into a pony tail, I had a long cleanup ahead of me, one I wasn't looking forward to. I was sure that Richard was going to start stinking up the place by now, that his blood was not going to be easy to get off of the white tiled floor. At least I knew that he was never going to lay a hand on me again. He was never going to leave bruises on me again. I shivered as I made my way down the sidewalk and to the apartment building. I could hear him now, yelling at me about not coming home...Then I remembered, he wasn't alive to yell at me again. I had killed him last night. As I reached the door, I had felt this strange feeling inside me, something about the air had changed in the apartment seeing that my Kiwi green car was still in the yard. I knew it would be. I pushed my way through the door and made my way through the house, going up the stairs of the apartment into the bedroom, and packing my bags first and taking them out to my car. I wanted all of my clothes; I wanted all of my notebooks and my lessons for my newest job. Then I began to erase all traces that I had lived here once. Taking all the pictures off the walls, all of the women's touches, everything of mine was going to be taken out. I hadn't stepped into the kitchen because secretly, I wasn't ready to go in there just yet. I was trying to build up to seeing him again. Secretly, I was afraid that if I went to look on him again, the anger would build up and I would go after him with a pair of scissors, control wasn't my strong suit, especially right now.

I looked over everything in the house and made sure that everything of mine was gone. I went outside and looked at my car, filled with all of my clothes and belongings and smiled to my surprise that everything was able to fit in the little car.

I looked to the house and sighed, knowing that I was going to have to go back in there and now take care of Richard. Bucking up, I pushed myself back into the house and closed the door behind me, locking the door and leaning against it. I had to take a breather and look down the hallway that led to the kitchen. Then I made my way into the laundry room and grabbed the bleach and some rubber gloves. I remembered the mess that I had made and knew that there was no way that this was going to take care of it all, but it was a start. I finally made my way down the hallway slowly and looked into the kitchen. The fear and the rate of my heartbeat sped up when I saw the most impossible thing ever...

Richard Martin was gone.

The blood that had once been pooled around him was also gone. There was a reason there was an air in the house and the fear in my heart had gone on over drive, where was his body? Where was his blood? Who the hell cleaned up my kill…Was Richard alive?

My emotions went on overdrive and I suddenly let out the most horrible blood curdling scream of my life. Not only did I not know what happened to the man that I killed, but I was starting to wonder if I had killed him at all. I hit the door jamb to the Kitchen and sat down on the floor looking at the spot on the floor where Richard had laid. If I had in fact murdered my boyfriend in cold blood, where was his body or his blood? Who would have cleaned up a murder that they had not committed? And why was I not arrested for murder. If I hadn't killed him that meant that he could be home at any moment and kill me. 'No I had killed him. know that I had killed him. I had packed away the pair of stainless steel scissors to take with me.' I thought 'where are you RIch?'

Finally I managed to gather my composure, even though I still wanted to scream. I picked up my keys and got into my car. I shook with fear but I managed to drive my way back to Baltimore, though my thoughts were on this worry. My cell phone rang suddenly causing me to jump slightly at the sound of it ringing. I looked at the phone to see that my father was calling me "Dad?"

"Caretta, You sound terrified. Is something wrong?"

'What would my father possibly think of the fact that I had killed a man and now I have managed to lose the body?' I thought to myself 'Can I tell him?'

"Caretta?"

"No, Nothing is wrong, I am fine…I am on my way over to your office pretty soon, I promise."

"Change of plans my dear, I am afraid I am going to have to cancel our lunch, I have a meeting with Jack Crawford. I am sorry."

Honestly, it was kind of a relief, I had a lot to unpack and then there was the current situation that I was worried about. I smiled and said "Don't worry about it, Dad. I think I will just head home and begin unpacking my car then."

"Alright, how about dinner tonight?"

"As long as you let me cook."

A long silence echoed across the phone "Dad?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Caretta."

I smiled a little wider "Alright then, Be careful out there."

"You as well my dear."

I hung up the phone and sighed "Great, now I can go on the hunt for the person who took my ex-boyfriend's corpse and the blood that was pooled around him."

I drove back to my father's house and began to take all of my clothing and belongings up to my room, clothing could be unpacked right away, and all of my old clothes could go into bags to go to charity. My thoughts still on Rich, the night that I killed him.

_I lay on the floor, curled up in a fetal position, the pain that was in my chest. The anger had rose inside of me the minute that he walked to the kitchen to clean the blood off of his hands "I keep telling you that you have to learn your place You have to stop provoking me and my anger sweetheart, I love you but one of these nights if you keep it up, your going to go too far."_

_I rose up slowly, whipping the blood off of my face and checking my nose for a broken bone "You are lucky I didn't bruise that pretty face of yours."_

_I glared at his back. "I know." I said quietly "I am sorry."_

"_I bet you are. You are such a smart, pretty, and wonderful woman to have around, ninty percent of the time I am so lucky to have such a willing woman to do what I want…."_

_As he spoke I got myself off of the ground and walked over to the shelf, picking up the stainless steel scissors that were laying there, and putting them behind my back._

"_Then there's that ten percent…that percent where you have to be so incredibly stupid. . I was hoping that the last time would have taught you a lesson. I don't like to do that to you."_

_I made sure that my footsteps were light against the floor, the past bruises on my legs were making way for new ones, and all the way up to my thighs, a grey sweater covered my shoulders, arms, stomach and back, this was never going to happen to me again. He was never going to lay a hand on me ever again. "I should have known better. It won't happen again." I whispered slightly._

"_Good." He said, keeping his eyes in the sink. He didn't see me come up behind him. I held a tight grip on the scissors behind my back. "Make sure that it doesn't, I really hate putting you back into your place."_

_My eyes glinted "You won't have to again. It won't happen again." I put on hand on his back and ran it up his spine, such silky skin for a construction worker. I looked up at his hair, hair that I had once liked to play with when we were in bed together, it was now the thing that I hated the most "I do love you Caretta."_

"_I love you too." I said quietly…then in one fast motion I embedded the scissors in his throat right into the jugular vein. He didn't know what to do, he just grabbed them and tried to stop the bleeding, however I pulled them out in time for him to fall to the side of me, rubbing against my left shoulder in the process. I just looked over my shoulder, I had no feeling, I had no thought. All I thought at that moment was "You will never harm me again."_

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed the tears started to leak through my eyes, the first time I had actually had feeling. It wasn't for Rich though, it was for those times that I had thought about doing it, and I hadn't done it sooner.

I packed up my car with some of my old clothes and drove over to a Goodwill drop off. "Caretta? Caretta Lector is that you?"

My thoughts were interrupted suddenly when I saw a girl that I had known, she was a student who my father had taught a long time ago "Alana Bloom, Hi." I said with a polite smile

"What are you doing here?"

"I moved back in with dad a couple of days ago." I lied for good cause.

"That's great, I remember how close you and your father are."

I nodded "I will also be teaching at the college, Sociology of Criminals."

"That's great! Hannibal always said how you were going to be a teacher someday."

"He was right." I said, this time adding a laugh that she had known "How are you? What are you up to?"

"Teaching at the FBI and of course because of your father I am a psychologist."

"My dad is brilliant for doing that."

"He is. I really enjoyed working with him; he is one of the best teachers."

I was proud of my father for that. He taught me everything that I know and he had a gift for picking out the intelligent ones "Yes he is, I guess I am pretty honored to have a father like him."

The phone in my pocket began to ring suddenly and I looked at it "Speak of the devil himself." I replied "I better take this Alana I am so sorry."

She smiled "no it's fine, oh hey, do you still like to go jogging up at the park?"

"Sometimes." I replied

"Why don't I join you, we can catch up."

I smiled in reply "Sounds like a wonderful Idea."

I got back into my car and picked up the phone "Hey Dad, Sorry, I ran into Alana Bloom."

"Where are you?" He asked me quickly, ignoring my apology

"I am at a Good Will drop off in town…Is everything okay?"

"I need you to come home right now Caretta, we have to talk."


	4. Chapter 4

Ma Fille Chapter 4

I drove home as quickly as I could and walked into the house to find my father sitting at his dining room table. The minute that he looked into my eyes, I knew something was wrong. "Dad."

"How many?"

I looked at him with a cocked eyebrow "How many what?"

"You know what I am asking you Caretta…How many have you killed?"

His eyes bore into mine, and I shook with fear "You…You found out?"

"Of course I found out...I am your father Caretta, I know when something hasn't exactly gone well."

I took a step back and looked at him "When?"

He held in his hand, An Ipad "When I talked to Jack Crawford at the FBI, and Will Graham, they both gave me a very interesting criminal profile, one that you fit except for a couple of things, oh and there is this."

He slid the IPad across the table to show me the front the Article was titled "The Scissor Slasher strikes again" 'A tongue twister of a title, well played Freddie Lounds…you bitch.' I thought with gritted teeth.

"It would seem that this Scissor Slasher has a talent for carving up the faces of his or her victims, as if the killer really wants to cut out the eyes, such a coward is this killer who doesn't want his or her face to be imprinted in the victim's eyes. Such hate that a pretty face can be turned into an utter grotesque art."

"Such interesting words, and what an interesting name…" I said out loud then looked into my father's eyes "So What are we going to do?"

"Answer my question first Caretta, then I will tell you everything.

"Are you asking me how many I have killed? Or how many I am willing to admit to?"

I kept my eyes pasted to his like his were pasted to mine. "Don't play games with someone who has played the game and won."

My eyes narrowed and I looked away from him "Four."

He took a deep breath and sighed "So besides Richard Martin, there are three more."

I nodded "You going to turn me in dad? or maybe you have someone waiting outside for me, maybe you are wearing a wire."

"No. No I wouldn't do any of that to you." He stood up and looked at me "As a matter of fact I had to clean up your mess to make sure that you didn't get caught."

The light bulb clicked in my head "You are the one that disposed of Rich? you cleaned up his blood." I am not sure if it was relief or fear in my own heart but I had to take a seat myself, and put my face in my hands.

"What are you thinking right now Caretta?"

He was standing to the side of me, leaning against the table, when I looked into his eyes I saw something I had never noticed before, his eyes were dark, like there was something about him, he wasn't the normal man that I had grown up with, he has seen things. "What did you do with the corpse?"

A slight silence took over the room for a moment "I think it's a good idea that we leave some mysteries uncovered for right now."

He touched my shoulder "I am the only one that you have right now Caretta."

I set my hand on his "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you Caretta, On the contrary you are more like me than what you can possibly imagine."

The sudden thought entered my mind and I had to say it. "Why did you ask me this, what happened when you med with the man from the FBI?"

He leaned against the table "They found a body, the body of a man that worked on a radio shack. He was stabbed with a pair of Stainless steel scissors."

I looked at him and my brow furrowed with confusion. I didn't say what I was thinking at the time but I sat back in my seat "What am I going to do?"

"You are going to do what I tell you." He stated "I will help you, and you are not going to take care of anyone unless I tell you, you can."

I nodded shaking slightly. "Now, I want you to tell me about the four."

I shook harder "Usually when someone tells someone to do that than they are going to get caught."

He sighed and bent down to me "You are going to have to trust me Caretta, if we are going to get through this then you are going to have to trust me."

He walked over and took a seat at the other end of the table and I sat forward again, folding my hands together and my eyes growing dark "You say that I can trust you dad. Then you are going to have to be honest with me."

"How can a father never be honest to his only daughter?"

I looked at my hands and thought back "The first was a man who I had witnessed beating his wife with a belt. I followed him one night and beat him with a pipe. The second was a cop who tried to rape a young woman, I shot him with his own gun. The third was a woman who I witnesses try to run a runner off the road. I ironically, hit her with my car, and then there was Rich...I stabbed him with a pair of scissors multiple times."

It was my father's turn to look at me in confusion

"As you can see dad, the RadioShack worker was no work of mine, I don't know whose it was. I am not the scissor slasher either... Though I appreciate the fact that you think that I am that talented."

My father sat back and sighed "Alright, now we can put this behind us and move forward."

I looked at him "How can you say that dad? I killed four people."

He stood up and kissed the top of my head "Cute...very cute."

That was all he had said of the matter, and he didn't keep up his end of the bargain either.

"Why do you have the sudden urge to come with me all of a sudden?"

"I just thought I would accompany you to your new job, and I want to meet the people that you will be working with."

"It is a technical college for Criminal Justice dad what kind of people do you think I will be working with?"

"It is a technical college for Criminal Justice dad what kind of people do you think I will be working with?" I said with a slight laugh in my voice."

"You have no idea."

I had been living with my father for the last couple of days, "Besides, when we get done here I am going to be taking you over to be meeting a friend of mine."

'Another fellow shrink father?"

He looked at me "How did you know that?"

"I am your daughter, I know these things...and I may have been listening in on your conversation with her this morning."

"You even know it is a female."

"Women are drawn to you dad, you may not see that all the time, but they are naturally drawn to you, you are a gentleman, you are handsome, smart, witty...foreign..."

He rolled his eyes slightly "What does me being foreign have to do with anything?"

"Like I said, women are naturally attracted to everything that you are...They find it sexy."

"Caretta." He gave me a warning tone and I laughed "Speaking the truth that is all I am doing, don't get cranky with me." I replied in surrender.

I walked into the building and was immediately welcomed "You must be Caretta Lector." The woman at the main desk said with a smile

"Yes, I am...How did you know? My classes won't be until tomorrow."

"You walked in with Dr. Hannibal Lector and you look just like him."

I looked over my shoulder and my father just shrugged with amusement. I nodded "Yes, I am."

"Come with me and you can meet the Dean, he is really looking forward to working with you."

I followed her into an office and was asked to take a seat "So it would seem that you make a pretty big impact on society." I said quietly as the woman left the room

My father remained standing and roamed through the books on the bookshelf next to him "I try to make a positive impression everywhere I go Caretta."

"So that the community looks over someone with demons?" I asked still a little frustrated that my dad was still keeping secrets from me.

"Everyone has demons Caretta, it is just to what level are those demons taking over."

"Very philosophical." I said

He looked at me and smiled "You of all people should know that I am a very philosophical man."

"A very secretive one too."

He sighed "You will find out all of the demons I hide soon enough Caretta, one step at a time."

The door suddenly interrupted our conversation "Well, I wasn't expecting you for another couple of Days Miss Lector."

I stood up and smiled at the tall man with salt and pepper hair and a graying beard. I shook his hand politely "My father insisted that he meet the people to whom I would be working for. I thought it would be a good idea to also pick up my rosters."

He smiled "Very smart." He looked at my father "Hello Dr. Lector it is a pleasant surprise to see you again."

My father smiled politely as I had done and shook the man's hand "What a strange thing, to see you in this environment George."

I cocked an eyebrow and George Grey smiled "Not to worry Miss Lector, Your father and I, as well as another woman, frequent the opera, your father has also been well known to give wonderful dinner parties."

I nodded "Yes my father's culinary skills have been known to attract some attention, though I didn't realize that you were an opera man." I said looking him up and down. Dr. Grey looked as if he belonged more in a football arena, bulldog shaped with big shoulders.

"Yes, I enjoy it rather, my wife enjoys it and I try to enjoy it for her sake."

The three of us laughed in unison

"Well now that you seem to be acquainted let me get those rosters and I will look forward to seeing you on Tuesday."

I nodded "Thank you sir."

As soon as he left the room I couldn't help but give a smug look to my father "I should have known that you knew him from the opera."

"You meet very interesting people at the opera, I could never get you to accompany me."  
"That is because I thought the opera was boring when I was sixteen."

"And now?"

"I may have had a change of heart when my friend took me to one in Spain." I said with a slight giggle in my voice "I had no respect."

Dr. Grey entered the room and smiled "Here you are. Oh and Dr. Lector I must say that you must put on another one of your dinner parties."

"You know how I work George inspiration has to strike me first." My father replied "But when I get ready to I will let you know."

"Good." Dr. Grey looked at me and shook my hand one more time "I look forward to seeing your class Miss Lector."

"Please, call me Caretta."

My father looked at his watch "Caretta I am sorry to say that we are going to have to get going. I forgot that we have another appointment and I am afraid we are going to run a couple of minutes late as it is."

I had forgotten as well, the shrink… I smiled once more at Dr. Grey and quickly caught up with my father who was out the door.

"She has a nice house, I can see why you are drawn to her."

"I didn't say I was drawn to her."

"You didn't say you weren't either."

"Caretta, She is a colleague of mine and a friend, I have been going to her as long as I have been in practice."

The door opened to a beautiful woman with blonde hair and a smile "Good morning Hannibal…and this must be your daughter, she looks like you."

"I get that a lot." I said

I looked at my father who said "I am going to sit out here and let you two talk alone, it will be good for me not to hear everything right away."

I nodded slowly and my father could tell that I was nervous. He kissed my head and shook his head whispering in my ear "Just don't give away anything that has to do with what happened and you will be okay."

I nodded again "It's alright Caretta, like your father, I am not going to say anything to anyone, confidentiality."


	5. Chapter 5

Ma Fille Chapter 5

I followed her to a room with large windows "This is a pretty big place, it must be nice to practice here at home."

She smiled "I actually don't practice anymore, I have been retired for some time. Your father continues to see me because he isn't comfortable with anyone else."

I smiled looking out the large bay window to the nature that she got to see everyday "That sounds like my dad alright."

The room was silent for a moment "You are uncomfortable talking to me." She stated sitting down

"Is anyone really comfortable talking to a shrink?" After saying that I immediately felt terrible "I am sorry, that was rude of me."

"No, it was honest, that is good. It means that we can break some ice carefully."

I laughed slightly.

"I must say that when your father called me and told me about you, I was a little surprised, I didn't know that your father had any children."

I stepped away from the window "My dad and I had kind of a rocky couple of years, now I think we are fine."

"What do you mean by Rocky?"

"I wanted to know about my mother, he has raised me since I was four, but I went to a lot of different private schools. I didn't know my father real well until I was sixteen."

"Tell me what you know about your mother."

I sat down in front of her "Like I said, I don't know much, I know that she was Italian, and that she was a paranoid wreck, she used to think…."I huffed at the thought "She used to think that my father was a demon and that he ate people."

"And do you think that was one of the reasons that you didn't know your father?"

"Maybe. He just always seemed to be…blocked from me, like he carried a barrier from me. It wasn't until just recently that he opened up to me about things."

"Well…lets switch over to the recent abuse that you have been facing."

"The altercation with Rich? What can I say he beat me and I had enough."

"Hannibal explained to me that you had a feeling that you were lost. Why don't you explain that for me a little bit."

I shrugged "I just, He has been beating on me for three months and I guess the fact that I don't have to feel any fear about getting beat with all of the decisions that I have to make...It makes me feel lost."

"Do you regret leaving him?"

I shook my head "No."

"What you did was a good thing, getting away from an abuser was good for you Caretta, you have a father, that I can see loves you very much. Having a Father like Hannibal to lean on is the best thing for you. I am going to prescribe that you stay with him, I am also going to prescribe a couple of anti depressants just in case."

Hannibal was waiting outside when he saw Caretta return she carried a small smile like some relief was off her shoulders He looked at his colleague who asked to talk to him quickly. "She explained to me a bit about her mother, your wife, her paranoia."

Hannibal sighed "I wasn't married to Elena, we had Caretta out of wedlock. Elena was not paranoid when she was sober, Elena was a drunk, something that I found out after she gave birth to my daughter."

"She wanted to know about her mother. Your relationship was strained because of that?"

"A little bit yes, but you must understand there was a reason why I never told Caretta anything about her mother. Her mother…One night she had been drinking heavily and had accused me of being the devil, she told me that she saw me consume the body of a man that never existed. She told me that she was going to take my daughter and go back to Italy. She had gotten into the car and wrecked the car…Elena didn't survive the night. I always blamed her for almost killing my daughter."

"You have to open up to your daughter Hannibal, she thinks that you are keeping a bearer up from her."

Hannibal nodded "Thank you for seeing us both."

I drove us both home, we both sat in silence, just the sound of classical music played on my stereo "I forgot to tell you, we are having dinner guests tonight. Jack Crawford, Will Graham and Freddie Lounds are coming over tonight, would you be so kind as to make some extra food for tonight since you are so serious about using my kitchen."

"I will on one condition."

He looked at me in question and I smiled "You watch...I get nervous when it comes to culinary art."

My father smiled "That is something that you don't have to ask me twice."

I had borrowed dad's apron and his recipe box as well. Though I had also brought mine at the same time. "What do you think of tenderloin in plum sauce with some Asparagus for the main course and some of my special raspberry vinaigrette with some small pieces of chicken?"

"That sounds wonderful, what is the plum sauce made with…"

"Besides plums?" I said with a wink

"Yes…"

"It's a secret I can't tell you that."

I took to work as soon as possible, cooking up the tenderloin and mixing the sauces, the vinaigrette was easier to make than the plum sauce. My father watched the whole time as I had thrown spices in the pan. Tossing a little bit of wine in the pan as well "I must say I didn't always see how people thought that we looked alike, now I see you in my apron in my kitchen cooking; now you look like me in every way."

"Now if only I had an interest in psychology right?"

"No I prefer you as you are."

Suddenly there was a knock at the front door and my father got up and left the kitchen to open the door. I stayed next to the stove and kept the sauces from burning. "I am very excited for you to meet my daughter."

Through the doorway three people walked into the room and I smiled polity "Caretta, these are some of my coworkers, Agent Jack Crawford with the FBI."

I looked at the large man with dark eyes. "I would shake your hand agent Crawford but, as you can see..." I said holding my hands up

"If you are anything like your father I want to leave you to your work."

My father continued with the introduction "Miss Freddie Lounds of the Tattler-crime."

I looked at the red haired woman and tried to be polite, but it was extremely difficult considering the fact that her stories were all lies. "Miss Lounds."

"Miss Lector." She said

"And finally Special Agent Will Graham, with the FBI."

The man looked antisocial, he had black curly hair and think rimmed glasses, he nodded to me and tried to smile slightly. I nodded "My father mentioned you. It's a pleasure."

"Well now that you have met everyone I am going take them to their seats."

"That is perfectly alright, dinner is almost served anyway. I am going to need you in a couple of moments to help me serve."

My father took them into the dining room and I thought about it for a moment 'This is not safe for me, I murdered people and my father is a bedfellow with FBI. This can't be good at all.'

After the vinaigrette was done, I made up the salads and threw in the chicken. My father walked back into the kitchen and took three of the salads in his hand "You didn't bother to tell me that you were bedfellows with the FBI, you told me you were helping them. If they find me out..."

"They won't" He said quietly "Don't question my methods Caretta. Also like I told you, don't play a game with a man who has played this game, and won."

His voice was harsh, he was tired of me asking him questions, but I wanted to know the truth. I was going to find out the truth.

I was quiet through dinner; I was mainly listening to the conversations that were taking place. "I must say Miss Lector, you do have your father's talent when it comes to culinary skills."

My father smiled and touched my hand "I must say that you are surprising me every single day. It seems that she is like me in every single way."

I replied with a smile

"Its such a shame to waste a salad with grilled Chicken." Freddie Lounds said quietly.

Not knowing that she was a vegetarian but not willing to apologize because she was rude. I looked at her "It's such a shame to interrupt a nice conversation with such an annoying voice."

the grip on my hand tightened and I winced and I gave him an apologetic look.

"Your father tells me that you are teaching Criminal sociology at the Local University." Agent Crawford said "That must be interesting."

I nodded with a smile "Human behavior has always been my passion, and when I was given the opportunity to teach a class on Crime, in the mix, well, how could i say no?"

"Sounds like something that the FBI should teach, just in case." He said taking a drink.

"Some of the students would take it they would at least be able to understand the behavior of murderers." Will Graham stated.

"How would the history of murder help anyone at the FBI?" Freddie Lounds opened her mouth again

"You would be surprised how modern day killers look at the murderers in history. Think about Richard Ramirez he had a fascination with Jack the Ripper…A lot of Killers did. But how could you notice that?" I said "Although I am ready to teach Criminal History I have also volunteered to help with the German classes, literature and Latin."

"Seems like you are a very educated woman." Will Graham said "To incorporate history in with your behavioral classes..."

I looked at my father with a slight smile "That was the one thing that my father insisted on when I was young."

My father looked down at his hand "That is something that I will never regret doing when you were young was giving you all the schooling that I did."

"You may be a wonderful asset if we ever need you." Jack said

I looked at my father, suddenly becoming nervous "I am sure that if it ever came down to it, my daughter would be more than happy to help in any way that she came." I nodded in agreement with him "Of course, though I am not sure how I would be able to help."

"You would be surprised what history can uncover." Will Graham replied quietly.

After my father had showed everyone out, my father and I began to clean up the mess that I had left, cleaning the dishes. My father stood at the sink with his sleeves rolled up and hands soaked with water. 'Don't play games with someone who has already played the game...and won.' those words echoed through my head suddenly...I turned and looked at my father, leaning against the counter. "I couldn't believe that I didn't see it sooner."

He looked over his shoulder, his Amber eyes sparking when he made eye contact with me "see what sooner my dear?"

My eyes narrowed "You have played the same game as me, I couldn't figure out what exactly you meant...now I see it perfectly."

His hands stopped scrubbing the pots to look at me more directly.

"So tell me father...How many people have you murdered in cold blood."


	6. Chapter 6

Ma Fille: 6

I forgot to warn you…I am going to make some quick changes…Since I started doing some research on Social Behaviors of the Criminal mind…I thought I would change Caretta;s profession to that…Please forgive the change but I think this will be more…fitting. Keep reviewing for me please! And thank you guys for all of your support

The sound of the music was so beautiful that it almost brought tears to my eyes, to the man next to men, I noticed that he himself had tears in his eyes. I had to admit, that her voice was so beautiful and that she was doing a wonderful job. I took hold of his hand and he smiled next to me, reaching over and whispering in my ear "I am so glad that you could join me tonight."

I smiled and said "The honor was all mine, dad, it really was."

He sat back and we both continued to listen to the music, it was an Italian opera singer. in a long flowing red dress. Someone at the corner of my eye kept catching my attention and I looked over my shoulder, rolling my eyes suddenly when I saw him "Dad.." I said with a bit of annoyance. "You will never guess who is here."

"I saw him. I am trying my best not to give him any attention either. Just pay attention to the music."

I nodded and looked back, but it was that little niche that was behind us a few rows back that was starting to dig into my skull.

That little niche that I was referring to was Franklin...He was a patient of my fathers, a man that had to be in his office every single day to talk about his newest problem. Most of the time, when I was working as a receptionist, Franklin would sit in the room and cry with hysteria, sometimes he thought of himself as neurotic, he also had a disgusting habit of leaving used tissues all over the table. I was close to wanting to cuss him, however by the time I was about to explode, my father would open the door and it was his turn to deal with him. I had a weird suspicion that Franklin had more of an interest in my father than what he was letting on. Yes he did admit to me on many occasions that he respected my father, however he also acted as if he had a certain attraction to him...In other words. I thought Franklin was sexually attracted to him. Franklin also had no interest what-so-ever in talking with me. He would tell me that he was present but when he found out that I was the daughter of his oh so precious doctor Hannibal Lector, he never spoke to me again.

I noticed however this time that Franklin had someone else with him, he was a tall thin African american man, with dark eyes, eyes that would have been eerie to me if I had been alone with him. I looked over my shoulder to see him and his eyes looked into mine. Something wasn't right about him. I saw that right away. I shivered and my father noticed it "Are you alright?"

I looked at him "Yes, I am fine."

Suddenly the singer hit the highest note possible and we both were caught in attention. Her voice was absolutely beautiful, and she had caused my father to stand in ovation. I soon followed suit standing and clapping next to him. As I suspected also, Franklin stood as well. My father leaned over to whisper in my ear once more "What a beautiful piece."

"Yes it was."

"Really Hannibal you need to cook for us again." She looked at me and smiled "You really have absolutely no idea how wonderful your father truly is, he puts on a show."

My father handed me a glass of wine and I smiled at the woman she dressed in a red dress, Mrs Komeda, "I really do have an Idea. He is my father."

"Thank you Mrs Komeda you really are too kind." He replied lifting his glass slightly.

The woman touched my arm "I must say that you are truly a beautiful woman Caretta. You have your father's eyes, your father has wonderful genetics."

I took a sip and smiled "thank you Ma'am, I get that a lot. Though I must say that I was not ready for a surprise like this, I feel a little under dressed." I said looking at my attire, I was dressed in a short black dress with golden heeled booties

"Nonsense Caretta, you look beautiful." My father stated proudly

"I wonder if she has her father's cooking skills." Mrs Komeda said Slyly, I knew where she was getting at.

"She does." My dad stated

I blushed sheepishly "I don't know about that, but I have gotten his love for cooking, whether anyone else likes it, well that is another story."

Suddenly, before I knew it Franklin had joined our circle, pushing me back slightly "Hello Dr. Lector."

"Hello Franklin." My father was trying to be polite; however, even I could see that my father was beginning to get agitated with the situation.

"This is my friend Tobias, he runs the local violin shop here." Franklin announced

My father shook his hand "It would seem that Franklin was more interested in you than he was the show."

"That doesn't seem to surprise me." I murmured

Tobias looked into my eyes "This is my daughter Caretta Lector." My father introduced, though this time I wish he hadn't

"A pleasure to meet such a lovely young woman, and you seem so close to your father." he took my hand and kissed the top of my hand his lips were cold. That moment I knew for sure that something wasn't right about him. "T...thank you."

Mrs Komeda looked at me with a curious look "Are you a friend of Dr. Lector's?" She asked Franklin but seeing that I was uncomfortable.

Before my father could react Franklin opened his mouth "I am a patient of his."

The awkwardness of the moment caused me to cringe in frustration and I looked at my father. The man that was with Franklin caused me to shy back over to my father, hugging to his arm. He noticed immediately, looking down at me and touching my hand in assurance. Mrs Komeda tried to get rid of the awkward moment "Hannibal's dinner parties are truly a work of art he used to put them together it was like watching a show...Used to."

"I must be inspired to make my masterpieces, I havent been inspired in a while."

I looked over at the two men with a slight glare and Tobias made eye contact with me, like he was reading me. Like he knew who I was and what I did, he knew about me and my father before we even were introduced…This scared me. Tobias had managed to pull Franklin away from the group and suddenly my father looked at the group and said "Who's hungry?"

Mrs Komeda smiled "Caretta why don't you join your father, that way we can see how well father and daughter truly work together."

"I know better than to get in the way of my father's artistic ability." I said

"Nonsense, I would be more than honored to have my daughter by my side." My father said suddenly and I blushed "Alright, then I guess I have no other choice."

My father had run to go and get the car while I waited at the warm lobby. I knew by the way he walked that he was not happy, I knew more than anything, when he was frustrated, and now my father was frustrated with the interruption and I could feel it. He pulled the car around and Mrs Komeda looked at me "I am looking forward to your father's dinner party, and of course to talking to you some more."

I smiled "I look forward to it as well."

My father opened the door and helped me into the car. I however stayed quiet. I knew my father's attitude, since I had found out his secret, since I had found out everything about him. I wasn't going to push my luck, I was still trying to take everything in, I was also to relocate the trust that I had for my father before I knew what I knew. It was difficult, he was so….scary to me now. "I am not going to kill you Caretta, You are my flesh and blood, it wouldn't taste right."

He had seemed to read my mind and I looked over at him "I am not a flight risk to you?"

"No." He stopped at a stop light and looked at me "I told you before Caretta, the only people that we can trust is each other. I know you Caretta you enjoy it."

The car moved again "There is something up with that man that Franklin was with. He isn't right."

"I know, I saw it too. The thing about us is, we can tell when there are others of us around, as long as we keep silent, as long as we don't draw attention to ourselves. We are not the ones that are a risk. Just remember 'no one gets to us, and no one ever will.'"

As soon as we arrived home I started to take off my shoes and walk across the floor "I think it may be a good idea that you suggest that Franklin find another Shrink, dad."

"Why do you say that?"

"He is on the edge of stalking you that's why. He started to come to the opera, your own get away if I might add...I think he shows more of an interest to you than you really are aware."

"So you have told me...many times."

"I am just trying to remind you...I am not comfortable with him being your patient. Maybe I am too protective but then there is the fact that he is tied in with Tobias..."

"Let me worry about Franklin." He looked at me with a father's glare. "there is a difference between work and home…we are home."

I sighed "I am just not comfortable with all of this, I would rather you just ask him to get another psychiatrist, suggest him to someone…"

"I was suggested to him by someone else."

I couldn't say anything except "That doesn't really surprise me…."

"Caretta don't be rude."

"Sorry." I said sheepishly

He sighed "Why don't you go to bed for the evening, you have a long lecture to give and I have a lot of patients tomorrow, one of them being Franklin."

I cringed but kissed my father goodnight and retired to my room. I needed some alone time anyway. I walked into my room, and closed the door behind me. I immediately leaned against the vanity and stared into the reflection in the mirror

_So tell me father, how many have you killed?"_

_He turned full attention to me and sighed "Much more than four I can assure you."_

_I shook "You killed mom didn't you?"_

_He whipped around and looked at me, his eyes flickered with anger, it's the first time that his anger was ever directed to me "What happened with your mother, I did for you! Don't you ever forget that she almost killed you in one of her drunken moments. Your mother was ill!"_

"_And the two of us enjoying the moments that we kill people doesn't make us ill?!"_

"_No, it makes us psychopaths, we know full well what we are doing and understand what we are doing is wrong and we just decide not to do anything about it."_

_I was silent; I knew that he was right, he always was. He walked over to me, standing over me. Staring down at me, he put a hand on my head and I began to shiver. It was the first time in my life that I was actually terrified of my father."What do you do with them?"_

_He looked past me and sighed "That is something you would be much better off not knowing."_

"_Are you going to kill me, now that I know everything, that you're a murderer?"_

"_Let's not forget that you and I are one in the same…You are my daughter after all…as for killing you, no, I won't kill you, you are too important."_

It certainly started to answer a lot of questions when it came to me. My father was a killer, and I was a killer, while I had never heard of murderous tendencies to run in a family line, that certainly didn't mean that it never had existed. I slipped into a pair of red Yoga pants and a black tank top and sat down on my bed. I needed to do some research for my class tomorrow and I wanted to check . As much as I absolutely despised Freddie Lounds, her articles were perfect for my class in behaviors of the human mind. I wanted to show a compare and contrast for the students.

Suddenly a knock on my door caused me to jump slightly "Yes?"

The door opened and my father entered the room "Sorry to disturb you but I am going to have to ask you to get dressed, we are going out."

I cocked an eyebrow "What? I thought…"

"I changed my mind, I forgot that I need to pick up some things for this dinner that I am going to have."

"Right now?"

"I am afraid so…"

"What do we need to pick up?" I asked

"The meat."


	7. Chapter 7

Ma Fille Chapter 7

He had told me to sit in the car. I wasn't so sure that was a good idea, for that was the front row seat to watching my father kill. We were sitting at the market and he had his target all picked out as if he had him saved for something special. I looked at my father "What are we doing?"

He didn't reply to my question. He pointed out the window to show me the man that he was looking for; he had just gotten out of the car and has walked into the store. "Stay here."

"What are you going to do?"

"You will see. Just stay here."

I watched him make his way over to the man's car and get down underneath it. My heart was beating rapidly for the fear that my father was going to get caught. Of course I should have known that he wouldn't. He got back up from the ground and walked back to the car and got back in "What did you do?"

He showed me the screwdriver he held in his hand "I punctured the antifreeze tank."

The man came out of the store and walked back over to his car and climbed in, almost none the wiser of what was going to happen to him. I shivered in the seat, whether it was because I was cold or I was in anticipation f the moment. I wasn't sure. My father took my hand before starting the car and following the man down the road "Who is this man anyway?" I asked.

"No one, you need to worry about." My father stated, stopping the car and watching the man's car make it down the road. He turned to me, "Get them out in the middle of nowhere, no one can hear them if they scream, and we have no witnesses. You were lucky with your four, but you can't be that lucky all the time."

I nodded my head and I looked past him,"His car came to a stop." I stated.

My father looked down the road at the break lights "Alright, now I am going to show you how it's done, Caretta." He drove down the road and pulled over behind the man's parked car "Stay here." He told me again, stepping from the car. The headlights of our car blinded the man in front of me "Thank God, I don't know what's going on with the car, but it says that I am out of oil."

My father didn't say anything; he just kept walking towards him. The man looked at my father as his face appeared. I knew what was coming next. I braced myself as my father hit the man over the head and the man crumpled to the ground. I opened the car door but stood right behind the passenger door. My father looked at me quickly but he didn't say anything. His eyes were different than before, now that I looked at him, his eyes almost seemed to glow in the headlights of his car "Caretta, come here."

It wasn't a request, the sound of my father's voice was different as well. No, this was a command. I walked around the car door, my eyes fixated on my father's the glow in his eyes intensified. When I made it to his side, he turned his gaze to the man "This is what we do, Caretta. We were born for this."

I looked over the man's crumpled body, he was still alive but he wasn't going to be for long. Something inside of me started to come back, like the day that Richard died, the day that all of those others died. My heart began to race, my mind began to think, I even think my pupils began to dilate "You feel it too, that's good, but you still need to control it." My father said, but he sounded so far away. "Caretta, focus on my voice and listen to me"

I looked at him suddenly and everything began to came back. My father smiled and kissed my forehead "Good, now. Pay close attention, I have a lot of work to do before the night is done."

"Alright everyone, today we are going to discuss human behavior in the mind of a criminal, we are going to talk about some of the most important criminals in history."

The students sat forward, most of my students had started to like the class, since I had begun to use examples of some of the most infamous. "Let's talk about the past Criminals…lets start with…Jack the Ripper."

The students looked at me surprised and one of them, (One that had just happened to be one of my favorite students) rose her hand "Miss Lector, no one knows who Jack the Ripper is, how can we do a behavioral study on him?"

I smiled and looked at her "Good question, why do you think I am doing a study on him?"

Another student raised their hand and I picked on him "Because he is one of the most infamous killers."

"That's correct because he is one of the most known. I clicked a button and shot up a picture of the murder scene from 1880's killings "Alright, I want some quick answers on Jack the Ripper just based on the murders of the prostitutes."

"He had a problem with Prostitutes."

"He was Angry."

"He was Brutal."

All of the answers were somewhat what I was looking for and I wrote them down. "Okay, how about 'His problem with prostitutes.' I want to know why. Could it be a strong hate because he contracted syphilis from one? Could he have been a social reformer trying to clean up the streets? Could he have had some hate because his mother was a prostitute and she abandoned him?"

They were all silent. And I smiled "These are all questions that you need to think about when you become a sociologist…How about we move on to something more modern…"

I clicked again and moved on to a new murder scene, one I had seen rather recently "The Chesapeake ripper. Now, just because no one knows exactly who The Chesapeake ripper is, just like our buddy Jack the Ripper, that doesn't mean that we can't do a behavioral study on him, you are going to find that you are going to have to do studies of behavior on people that you have never met and people that may not even exist. Now, everyone think long and hard."

The door to my class room opened and two men walked through the door, one of them, just happened to be my father, the other was Jack Crawford. "Sorry to bother you Caretta." Jack said.

"No please, come in, we were just doing a quick behavioral study on the Chesapeake Ripper, why don't you listen to a couple of the answers."

He took a seat at my desk and my father stood in the corner, intrigued. I turned to my students "Alright, what do you have?"

One student raised his hand "He is a psychopath but he has perfect precision of reality, as far as his mind goes, he is completely sane, he knows the human anatomy, He doesn't seem to like rude people, and he may find killing to be almost an art."

I was surprised and I smiled "That Is very good Travis. I am impressed…So impressed that I want everyone to do a behavioral study on a famous criminal all by Monday. Class Dismissed."

After everyone had left I looked at my father and Jack Crawford "So, to what do I owe this pleasure today?"

"Well, I was going to take you to lunch, when I ran into Jack." My father stated

"I actually came to see if you wanted to put your behavioral studies to work, we have a problem." Jack said "And as much as Dr. Lector has boasted your talents, I decided that I wanted to give it a try."

"Alright, what do you need?"

He handed over a file to me and let me open it up "It would seem that the killer makes enjoys making his victims instruments."

I went through the photos of a man whose vocal cords were exposed and the neck of a cello was inserted into his mouth. The man looked familiar. "Seems that he has found his metaphor that murder is art." I stated

"Some art."

I smiled and looked up "I am going to need the rest of the photos if I am going to make a proper comparison, and I am also going to need to talk to Will Graham."

"Why?" Jack asked

I blinked in surprise "He is your profiler right? I want to make a couple of comparisons with him. If that is alright of course Agent Crawford."

Jack thought about it for a moment before my father responded "I have an appointment with him tonight. If it is alright with you Jack, I can have the two of them talk and she can get her information."

Jack sighed "alright, I will send all of the photos with Will tonight, and then we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Good, I happen to be working at the office with my father tonight. I will take them there." I looked down at the photo again "Father, does this man look familiar to you at all?" I asked suddenly

My father looked over my shoulder at the photo. "Yes, as a matter of fact he does…"

"We saw him at the orchestra a couple of weeks ago didn't we? I commented that he was…a little off."

"I would say that he was more than a little than 'off' Caretta, I would say that he was drunk."

"Father!" I gasped. "Don't insuate that the man came to the ochestra inebriated."

My father shook his head "I didnt mean to insuate anything Caretta, I was just saying that his performance was below the expectations that I had for a man that played an instrument."

Jack looked at the two of us "You know who this man is?"

"Not personally of course. Like I stated before we saw him at the orchestra a couple of weeks ago, and like I said he was a little off…He wasn't keeping in time, he wasn't on key and he wasn't really all that good. I was able to hear him out of all of them, but I have exceptional hearing."

"Is that a possible motive?" Jack asked.

"Maybe. I won't know until I talk to Will and I get the rest of the case. It sounds, as of right now, that your killer is angry that this man may have possibly 'butchered' some very beautiful music. He is trying to make a point, he wants music to be beautiful and that he has turned this man, who causes disturbances in beauty and turned him into music…I don't remember, did this man play the cello?"

"I believe that he did." My father said trying to remember.

Jack had excused himself and went back to the FBI "This is going to sound really strange Dad, but I already think I know who it is."

My father looked down at me with eyebrows raised "Who?"

"Do you remember that man that Franklin was with at the Opera? Tobias, I think his name is."

He nodded "Yes."

"Something tells me that he was the man that was behind it. Or at least has something to do with it. Even if he isnt, the man who killed the victim, was at the ochestra the exact same time that we were there."


End file.
